Monday, July 20, 2009

Letters to Senator Durbin and Burris - please circulate

These letters will be given to Senator Burris and Senator Durbin. We are adding more signatures as we type. We encourage you to copy, paste, and distribute this letter to everyone you know. Once sign, please deliver to Senator Burris and Senator Durbin. Please let us know if you get a response.

July 19, 2009

The Honorable Roland BurrisSenator for the State of IllinoisSenate, United States of America

Dear Senator Burris:

Having just witnessed today the intransient position of the de facto government of Honduras towards the political dialogue in Costa Rica cause the failure of that process, we are writing to insist that the United States follow its own laws and the spirit, as well as the letter, of the international community’s condemnation of the coup d’etat in Honduras.

This letter is to request that you, our representatives in the U.S. Senate, take the lead in insuring that the U.S. State Department to do the following:

1. Follow U.S. law, which calls for all aid, other than humanitarian, to be cut off from any government "whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup or decree”. The fact that the military is in partnership with the Micheletti de fact government does not alter the fact that the government of President Zelaya was deposed by military action, not parliamentary or judicial action and that the country has been totally militarized and that the de facto government is being maintained in power through that militarization. No further aid should be given to Honduras until the full restitution of the constitutional government of President Manuel Zelaya Rosales.

2. Call for an end to repression and abuses of human rights by the de facto coup government and an investigation of the abuses, including the murders of Isis Obed Murillo, the 19 year old killed when troops opened fire on a demonstration in support of Zelaya’s return to Honduras on July 5thand the two well known trade unionists and leaders of the Popular Block (Bloque Popular), Roger Bado and Ramon Garcia as well as the thousands of detentions, hundreds of arrests and the violence against so many Honduran citizens.

2. Break off all governmental relations with the de facto coup government and withdraw the U.S. ambassador from Honduras immediately. Impose economic and political sanctions against the coup government.

3. Investigate the finances in the U.S. of the key coup figures in the military and in the de facto government and freeze any accounts and activities that are a part of their illegal activity.

3. Request a public accounting from Ambassador Hugo Lorens and from the Department of State regarding what information was known about the planned coup prior to June 28th and what signals were given to the Honduran military and other coup plotters.

We believe these are the minimum actions immediately necessary; indeed they should have been taken on June 29th. Not taking at least these actions makes the United States appear complicit with the illegal coup and its violent suppression of the Honduran people. Indeed, the United States should feel the weight of responsibility for the Honduran people’s well being, for its actions and inactions thus far. It is not enough to make rhetorical statements in support of the legitimacy of President Zelaya.